On December 6, 2024, Levine Lee client Greg Tournant received a sentence of probation with home confinement, and no prison time. Mr. Tournant, who formerly managed the Structured Alpha Funds at Allianz Global Investors US, was charged with fraud and causing losses in excess of $7 billion to investors when the Funds collapsed in March 2020 during the COVID-19 market downturn. The Government sought a prison term of no less than seven years, blaming Mr. Tournant for all $3.2 billion in lost investor principal, consistent with the guilty pleas of Allianz itself and two of Mr. Tournant’s colleagues. However, Chief Judge Laura Taylor Swain of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York entirely rejected the Government’s loss theory, accepting our long-held position that market forces and other factors unrelated to Mr. Tournant were the cause of the losses. Having found zero loss attributable to Mr. Tournant and in light of his undisputed serious health issues and an otherwise well-lived life, the Court found that a prison sentence was not appropriate.

The firm is deeply appreciative of the Court’s careful and thoughtful decision on sentencing. Seth L. Levine, Alison M. Bonelli, Scott B. Klugman, Julie-Irene A. Nkodo, and Heather L. Jones worked on the matter, along with co-counsel Dan Alonso and Olivia Rauh of Orrick.

This widely covered result led to Levine Lee being named a Law360 “Legal Lion of The Week,” as well as being recognized in the American Lawyer’s “Litigators of the Week.”

Additional coverage can be found here:
Former Allianz Employee Spared Prison Time Over $7 Billion Funds Collapse
Ex-Allianz Fund Manager Avoids Jail Over $3 Billion Collapse
Allianz Exec Avoids Prison For $7B Investor Fraud